The Rias
ALICE'S ADVENTURES
ANDREW AND CELIA SHARPE
Mon 23 Aug 2010 11:24
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We drove down to Vigo airport with Chris and Roger for
their flight home with Debbie and Mark's two boys Chris and Robert.
Met Debbie and Mark who had spent the weekend in Vigo with the
boys. The temperature there was 10 degrees warmer with no wind chill - a
hundred miles south of La Coruna by road. We drove up to Santiago to
Compestello where Mark had booked us all into the Parador for the night.
The Parador was right next door to the cathedral and a fascinating old building
where the pilgrims used to stay (and some still do). We walked round the
lovely old town and found a fabulous tapas bar. Wonderful calamari
and gambas. Needless to say Andrew did not partake in any of them but
enjoyed the other meats and tortillas. Looked round the cathedral in the
morning which was filling up for a service. A most unfriendly
building.
Drove back to La Coruna for 2 nights looking round the
town and staying on the boat. When we were due to leave on Wednesday
morning it was raining. The visibility improved a bit and we put on all
our oilskins and boots and went anyway. The repair to the auto helm
worked which was a great relief!
Next stop was Camarinos. A friendly, basic
marina. The town was mainly a fishing harbour but Debbie and I were
enthralled with the lace shops. One was a co-operative with all the ladies
sitting round making the lace and selling their wares. Fascinating.
The Ria was shrouded in cloud so not too good a view.
Thursday we went to the next Ria going past the
notorious Cape Finnistere. It was flat calm but we had rolling
waves. As usual the wind was on the nose and the tide was against
us! According to the pilot book and almanac it is very rare to get a
southerly wind along this coast - this must be one of those rare times
then!! We anchored in the bay at Muros and went ashore to have a look
round. An interesting town full of old buildings and narrow
streets.
Next day was a five mile trip across the Ria to
Portosin. We had bought a huge bag of oranges in the supermarket for one
euro and Andrew squeezed a few of them for breakfast that morning.
Delicious.
We caught a bus to Noia at the head of the Ria which was
described in the book as "little Florence". It was not as interesting as some of
the other towns we had come across and I wouldn't recommend a special trip
there.
On Saturday we headed round to Ria de Arousa. Wind
was force 3 to 4 on the nose again! We saw dolphins outside the marina and
again at sea and also a whale. At the entrance to the marina there was
thick fog. Donned lifejackets and luckily it cleared once we were
inside. We anchored just off Caraminal. There
were dolphins near the boat so we went on a chase in the dinghy
but they were faster than us! Went in to the town in the
morning. It was a festival weekend and there were incredible 10 foot tall
mannequins outside the church ready for a parade.
We left again in mist and came round to Ria de
Pontevedra. Wind still on the nose. Tied up in the marina in
Combarro. A very pretty village which we walked around in the
drizzle!
Raining hard this morning which is why I have time to
write up the blog!
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